Examples Of Long Term Orientation

by: Chris Smit - December 11th, 2012 Add Comment

My previous post on the cultural dimension Long Term Orientation had a lot of comments. Mainly on Social media. Since the concept of this dimension is often quite confusing for Westerns, I’d like to share a couple of examples of Long Term Orientation in this article.

Coming Up With Examples Of Long Term Orientation Is Difficult

Why is this so? In the discussions going on, on different Social Media Platforms, there were a lot of comments about the US being long term oriented (which they are not, compared to Indians, Chinese, Japanese etc; All of the discussion were from the US).

The Anglo Saxon reaction is typical for low scoring countries like the US (in other words being short term oriented): wanting to get to the “absolute answer” of this discussion. Read More

Do’s & Dont’s in Cultural Awareness Training

by: Chris Smit - February 14th, 2012 6 Comments

I get the question almost every cultural awareness training: Can you give me some Do’s & Dont’s of this particular country?

It’s a very valid question and an obvious one from someone working in an international environment. We want simple and short answers and solutions to the problems we face.

However… Do’s and Dont’s questions are really the most difficult one’s to answer. Read More

Japanese Culture: Boy and Girl on train

by: Chris Smit - July 24th, 2011 1 Comment

The country is Japan. The setting is a commuter train. The situations is a pregnant women, wearing a badge telling people around her she is pregnant.

The reason for this is so other sitting passengers will stand up (if they can, due to the crowded train!), and let the pregnant women sit down.

But… why does she not just say she´s pregnant, or why do (typically men) not stand up out of them selves? Or people will eventually see she is pregnant!

Japanese Culture Explained:

Japan is a country with a collective society (score 46 on the Individualism dimension from Hofstede). One of the characteristics of collectivism is that your opinion is secondary to that of the group; in this case you do not claim your seat.

Culture Matters